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Riding Seattle Light Rail 1/8/2017

Bob and Elizabeth made an excellent waffle and sausage breakfast which is always a treat. About 10:20, we packed my belongings into the car and drove Bob to Macy's so he could do his day's work then filled the car and Elizabeth drove to the Angle Lake Seattle Link Light Rail station and parked in the parking structure. We walked to the ticket machines to get my ticket, but the machine would not accept my credit card or some reason, so I had to use a $20 bill had a pocket full of dollar coins to go with the others I had obtained. We walked upstairs and boarded a waiting train, whose destination sign said University of Washington, and we expected to ride the train straight through.

In March 2002, Sound Transit began the process of acquiring land in the Rainier Valley when its board authorized the agency to purchase all of sixty-four properties and parts of two hundred and thirty-two others. Sound Transit was also informed that Link Light Rail received a rating of "Recommended" from the Federal Transit Administration, making it eligible for federal funding. Critics of the project viewed it as further troubles for the project because prior to the previous year's problems the project had a rating of "Highly Recommended", while supporters viewed the rating as an affirmation of the progress the project had made since then.

In an attempt to ease the worries of Rainier Valley residents about the impact of light rail, Mayor Nickels proposed over $50 million in investments in the neighborhood, including paying off small business loans, burying power lines, and other community developments. The proposal was unanimously approved by the city council, but not without some complaints that the timing of the funding was questionable as the city was facing budget cuts and that it was the city that was making the funding and not Sound Transit.

The main line from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Downtown Seattle {Westlake Center} opened in 2009.

A new 3.1 mile extension opened from downtown Seattle to Capitol Hill to the University of Washington station on the north end of the line on March 19, 2016. A new 1.6 mile extension opened from Sea-Tac Airport to the Angle Lake station on September 24, 2016 on the south end of their system.

The doors buzzed, flashed and closed and we both were off on new mileage as far as the Sea-Tac Airport stop.

The parking structure at Angle Lake in which we parked the car.

The south end of Sea-Tac Airport.

The Alaska Airlines hangar.

The Delta Airlines hangar.

Delta Airlines planes.

Sea-Tac Airport.

The unique parking garage.

An American Airlines plane.

Alaska Airlines' northern terminal.

Three planes and the Eskimo logo.

The before and after view of stopping the Sea-Tac Airport station.

Thr control tower.

Crossing International Boulevard before the Tukwila International Boulevard station.

Descending the grade to the Rainier Beach station.

Descending the grade onto Martin Luther King Jr. Way. We made stops at Othello, Columbia City and Mount Baker stations.

Approaching the Beacon Hill tunnel.

The Seattle Light Rail maintenance facility. Right before the SODO station, it was announced that we would all have to get off the train at Stadium and take a bus through the Downtown Transit Tunnel to Westlake Center where we would board a train for the rest of the way to the University of Washington.

Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners. We arrived at Stadium, detrained and walked over to bus, taking a seat in the back and we started down the transit path en route to the Downtown Transit Tunnel.

Century Link Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. While we were in the tunnel, we stopped at Chinatown, Pioneer Square and University Street before Westlake Center. On the way there, the bus operator instructed everyone to get off the trolley and go behind it to the other platform. When we arrived, there, I did just that, then a transit security guard scolded me for walking across the transit tunnel. He asked if I had seen the writing on the pavement saying not to cross. I replied that I was not from here and I looked down the tunnel to make sure there were no trains coming. His response was to not do that again and I said I would not. Elizabeth must have known what to as she went up the stairs, over the top and back down the stairs where she met me.

Looking both ways in the Downtown Transit Tunnel. We waited in the tunnel on the west side and watched a plethora of passing buses.

King County Metro buses.

Our trolley finally arrived. Everyone boarded and rode the rest of the way to University of Washington. We stopped at the Capitol Hill station and continued through the tunnel to the University of Washington station. Elizabeth stayed on the car to keep our seats while I detrained for a quick photograph.

The trolley at the University of Washington station, ending our new mileage from Westlake Center to the University of Washington. We rode the trolley back to Westlake Center and detrained, being grateful that even with this service mess, we were able to ride all the new mileage of the Link extension.

The trolley leaving and returning to the University of Washington. Two buses arrived with most people flocking like penguins to the first one, while Elizabeth and I boarded the much less-croweded second one. We went back through the tunnel and when we came to Stadium, turned left and our driver then stopped the bus to let us all off, thereby allowing us to beat the crowd back to the trolley. Elizabeth and I rode back the whole way to Angle Lake and enjoyed the ride, although we both disliked having to take the bus. My feeling about buses is that they are all right if you know you are going to take them to get to a train, however, I do not like being surprised with a bus.

An airplane taking off from Sea-Tac International Airport on our last leg to Angle Lake.

The Link light rail train at Angle Lake station.

Another airplane taking off.

A second trolley at the line's terminus. We walked back to the car then drove back to Lynnwood, listening to the first period of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Tampa Bay Lightning game. After one period, there was no score. We arrived home and turned on the NHL Network for the remainder of the game, which featured plenty of scoring by Pittsburgh and very little by Tampa Bay for a 6-2 Penguins win. Elizabeth kindly did my laundry while we watched the game. Tomorrow, I must leave the company of Bob and Elizabeth Alkire and start the trip home aboard the Coast Starlight.

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